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You may not have heard of gazundering and gazumping before, especially if you haven’t dealt with buying and selling a property. However, these are two very real issues when it comes to property ownership transfer. These are two terms which commercial solicitors Manchester are too aware of as they are regular problems that tend to crop up during buying or selling of properties. In this article, we are going to discuss these two issues and how an excellent team of commercial conveyancing solicitors can help you avoid them.

So, what is Gazumping?
Your conveyancing lawyer in Manchester will be able to explain what gazumping is, but if you are yet to hire one, this guide will quickly shed some light.

Once the price of a commercial property has been verbally agreed between the seller and the buyer, it’s then the responsibility of the conveyancing lawyer to do their research, surveys and pre-contract investigations. After that, the seller’s legal team will create a contract which the lawyer hired by the buyer will have to approve. There are other tasks that the two parties have to complete before the official exchange of ownership happens and the contract becomes legally binding.

It is during this period before the official sale where gazumping occurs. This tends to be a worrying time that can last up to 12 weeks. It is particularly worrying as there is no legally binding contract in place to make the sale certain. Since no legal documents have been drafted or rather signed, gazumping can happen and you as the buyer has very little to do about it.

Gazumping, by definition, is a situation where the seller abruptly raises the asking price of the property at the last moment. That means that the buyer has no choice but to accept the new price or cancel the deal. Another situation that can be referred to as gazumping is when a seller suddenly decides to sell to another party, usually at a higher price.

And what about Gazundering?
Well, this is almost the entire opposite of gazumping, and a common practice in the United Kingdom’s housing market. Gazundering is when the buyer demands a lower price, usually at the last moment. This happens before the lawyers complete their surveys and contracts and the seller has no option but to accept the new offer or cancel the deal.

How to Avoid Gazumping and Gazundering
Gazundering and gazumping are not very common practices, but they can happen when you least expect. If a seller pulls this move, it can be disastrous, especially if you didn’t put it into account.

One of the best ways to avoid these practices is to ensure that you have the best commercial solicitors Manchester has to offer on your side. The faster everything is done, the lesser the chances of gazundering and gazumping occurring. This gives both the seller and buyer less chance to get cold feet, and less time to think about raising or lowering their offers.